PVD processes gain increasing attention in some technical fields, e.g. display manufacturing. A good deposition rate can be obtained with sufficient layer characteristics for some PVD processes. For example, sputtering is one important deposition process for display manufacturing or other applications. Sputtering, e.g. magnetron sputtering is a technique for coating substrates, e.g. glass or plastic substrates. Sputtering generates a stream of coating material by sputtering a target through the use of a plasma. During this a process in which material is released from the surface of the target by collision with high-energy particles from the plasma. Sputtering is controllable by plasma parameters, such as pressure, power, gas, and a magnetic field. In vacuum, the sputtered materials travel from the target toward one or more substrates or workpieces and adhere to the surface thereof. A wide variety of materials, including metals, semiconductors and dielectric materials can be sputtered to desired specifications. Magnetron sputtering has thus found acceptance in a variety of applications including semiconductor processing, optical coatings, food packaging, magnetic recording, and protective wear coatings.
Magnetron sputtering devices include a power supply for depositing energy into a gas to strike and maintain a plasma, magnetic elements for controlling the motion of ions, and targets for generating coating material through sputtering by the plasma. Sputtering is accomplished with a wide variety of devices having differing electrical, magnetic, and mechanical configurations. The configurations include sources of DC or AC electromagnetic fields or radio frequency energy to produce the plasma. Particularly, non-conductive materials may be sputtered using RF sputtering methods.
RF-PVD is desired for a plurality of application, e.g. sputtering of non-conductive materials. However, an RF-sputtering process often generates arcing and parasitic plasma. Attempts have been taken to solve these issues with enormous individual efforts during assembly and commissioning of the apparatuses and systems for RF sputtering.